Ink jet printing systems are known in which a print head defines one or more rows of orifices which receive an electrically conductive recording fluid from a pressurized fluid supply manifold and eject the fluid in rows of parallel streams. Printers using such print heads accomplish graphic reproduction by selectively charging and deflecting the drops in each of the streams and depositing at least some of the drops on a print receiving medium, while others of the drops strike a drop catcher device.
Ink jet printers have various components, most of which are packaged in separate units, then used together. For example, a typical ink jet printer includes a fluid system, print head, umbilical, data system, and associated electronics for control of the devices. For certain applications, it would be desirable to package these components compactly. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,591,870 and 4,623,897 describe a continuous ink jet printer intended for use in an office environment. To meet the requirements of such an environment, the printer must be relatively compact. The office environment also requires that the printer be substantially free from complicated user maintenance. However, these systems are much too small for some applications. They operate a print head with 60 jets, whereas it would be desirable to operate a print head with multiply more jets, such as 1024. It would also be desirable to have greater paper throughput in many applications. Finally, the '870 patent and other prior art have the paper handling and storage as part of the printer, whereas it would be desirable in some applications to have paper handling performed by a large roll-to-roll system similar to that used in offset web printing.
It is seen then that there exists a need for a compact, integral print engine module which is easy to test and install, which can be used with a remote print head, and in which the paper handling is performed by a large roll-to-roll system.